[pct-l] The Thousand Lakes Wilderness, Clinton Clarke's Original PCT Route, vs the Hat Creek Rim

[Deems]

This last weekend I hiked into the Thousand Lakes Wilderness for the first 
time, and to follow Ryback's 1970 route through the area. I discovered a 
very interesting volcanic wilderness that is just a short view from the Hat 
Creek Rim. In Clinton Clarke's 1945 Pacific Crest Trailways Guide book, 
which outlines his original 1935 route for the PCT, his trail passed from 
the Mt Shasta area to the 1000 Lakes region then to Mt Lassen (pages 
46,73,119). The route is also documented in the 1935 PCT Relay book. In 
1973, the USFS chose poorly to route the PCT across the waterless Hat Creek 
Rim, which has been my opinion, a tragic trail routing mistake that probably 
won't ever be corrected. The 1000 Lakes has 8500ft peaks, many lakes (not 
quite a 1000), very old trails, deep forests, alpine ridges with great 
views, and reminded me of the Ebbetts and Carson Pass areas of the Sierra. 
The route from Burney Falls to Lassen NP would have passed through mostly 
USFS lands, would have had much more forests and water, greater diversity, 
and included this small wilderness treasure just 20 miles west of Lassen. 
Eric chose wisely 38 years ago to hike through the Lakes, and the USFS 
should have chosen Clinton Clarke's original PCT route, instead of the Rim. 
Here's some of the photos I took last weekend in the Lakes following 
Clinton's original Pacific Crest Trailway.
  http://www.pbase.com:80/losthiker/root&view=recent
  http://pcttrailway.pctplanner.com/